In today’s world, the biggest problems we are facing are often framed as strictly political or technical. But what gets lost in that framing, says Kailash Satyarthi, is the recognition that problemas are fundamentally human, and that the disciplines best equipped to address them are not the ones we most often reach for.
Kailash Satyarthi shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai for his lifelong campaign against child labor and for the right of every child to an education. His movement, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, has freed more than 100,000 children from exploitation across South Asia.
IE School of Arts and Humanities had the honor to speak with him to ask what five decades of activism has taught him about humanities education, compassion and the responsibility of students today.
Literature, philosophy and the arts have long grappled with questions of justice and moral responsibility. What role do these subjects play in driving social change today?
Literature has a strong power for change. But it begins with creating deeper awareness and understanding about social issues and the problems humanity and the planet are facing. Art, literature, culture, music—all these things matter a lot, but the most important role they have is to ignite our moral sense of responsibility, which is not possible only through science or law alone.
Art, literature, culture, music are related to humanity. They ignite compassion. Compassion is an innate quality inside each one of us. If we ignore it, it remains dormant. Sometimes it is obscured by many things, like ego, hatred, violence, social ecosystems, politics. And therefore subject like literature, art, humanity can play an important role in removing those layers so that we can brighten ourselves, society and the world.
Your work sits at the intersection of education and human rights. What do you believe a truly humanistic education should give people?
Young people should know that knowledge is important, deeper knowledge is equally important, but knowledge, wealth and power should not become the shackles in your life. We should be above these things because the human conscience is higher and deeper than any external knowledge we gather, any power we collect, or any wealth we earn.
In my own movement over the last five decades, we have a motto: “education for liberation, liberation for education”. We cannot liberate ourselves or society from exploitation and injustice without education. And that education should be rooted in humanity.
You define peace as an active everyday choice rather than just the absence of war. What does practicing active peace look like for a university student in their daily life?
Anyone can practice peace by making new friends and being true friends. Not just superficially, not just “How are you? I am fine, you?” Ask yourself: do you really care for someone? That superficiality should slowly go away.
Also, gratitude. If every day you practice feeling genuine gratitude for those who have helped you, your mind will be more responsible, more active and your personality will be kinder and more peaceful. You will be able to emit peace around you because you will express your gratitude to others the next day.
What framework would you give young people who want to make a difference but don’t know where to start?
I have a mantra I call the ‘3D mantra’. The first D is Dream. Dream big, but don’t dream just for yourself. If you dream, dream for the betterment of society, beginning with the betterment of your surroundings, your class, your university, your neighborhood, your city, your nation and the whole world.
The second D is Discover. There is tremendous potential and power inside each one of us. We keep looking for purpose outside, but the purpose is inside. Discover your inner self, your inner power and purpose. And discover the outside opportunities, the outside goodness.
My third D is Do. If you are a dreamer, if you can discover yourself and the world, then whom are you waiting for? Don’t wait for any leader to make change. Act now. Dream. Discover. Do.
You have worked across 103 countries with vastly different cultures, legal systems and moral frameworks. How do you build a shared language around human dignity when the world doesn’t agree on its meaning?
During the Global March Against Child Labor, the marchers included survivors, children, youth and leaders from across the world. We did not always understand each other’s spoken language, but the deepest communication is the communication of your feelings. That reflects in your eyes, on your face, in your body language. If you are truthful, if you are honest, if you really care for others and feel the suffering of others as your own… that does not need spoken or written language. That is the language of action. That is the language of compassion.
The most urgent problems of our time — climate, inequality, conflict — are often framed as technical challenges. What gets lost when we forget that they are fundamentally human ones?
First, we have to deeply realize that the world is not only interconnected but also interdependent. We all live under one sun, we have one moon, we walk on the same earth. We are interconnected. But in practical terms, in technology, in knowledge, in business, in politics, everything is interdependent. That interdependence should be realized in everyday life.
We have to feel responsible for one another. What have we gained from humanity, from our nation, from our city, from our university? What are we returning? You can return something today, every day, every minute. You can return love, politeness, good deeds and actions of humanity.
After all that you’ve seen, what inspires you?
The most important thing that inspires me is hope. We can lose everything, but if we lose hope, then everything is lost. So we have to be hopeful. Evil speaks loudly and runs fast, whereas goodness is a little shy, a little slow. But it does not mean goodness is lost. We are surviving because goodness is still here, inside us and around us. We have to believe and trust in that.
Scott is editor-in-chief of Uncover IE and Senior Content Manager at IE University. He holds degrees in English Literature and Spanish from Saint Louis University and has spent more than a decade working in content strategy, editorial leadership, journalism and multilingual communications.
